Tubing screwing device



May 16, 1933- c. c. BROWN TUBING SCREWING DEVICE Filed May 25, 1951 2Sheets-Sheet 2 C@ Bvfown lwvwm N M @Cw/a Patented May 16, 1933 UNITEDSTATES- PATENT OFFICE CICEBD C. BROWN, F HOUSTON, TEXAS TUBING SCREWINGDEVICE Application led Hay 25,

the lower end of the well and projecting up Lthe two sections of beingmade.

through the casing head for connection with the christmas tree or flowlines ordinarily provided for distributing the oil or gas to the properstorage. When the well is thus equipped it sometimes becomes desirableto close off the upper endv of the casing to seal the upper end of thewell while repairs are being made on the valves, iittings or pipesconnected with the distribution of the oil from the well. If the oil'isbeing produced under pressure, this is. a dilicult matter to handle.. Ina prior application of mine,

' Serial No. 413,475, filed Dec. 12, 1929, I have shown a means ofparting the tubing adjacent the upper end of the casing and closing agate valve across the casing so as to seal off the upper end of'saidcasing and allow operations to be performed upon any portion of the wellhead equipment. My present invention contemplates the screwing togetherof a joint in the tubing adjacent the gate valve and to provide meanswhereby this may be done mechanically and accurately so that the'threadsupon the pipe will engage in the threads in the coupling withoutdifficulty.

I provide a threaded joint between the lower and upper sections of thetubing and then screw the upper end of the tubing to or from thisconnection and provide resilient means to allow play longitudinallybetween pipe while the joint is Under ordinary circumstances, if theupper section of tubing is forced downwardly and rotated at a certainrate of speed it will only engage with the threaded connection o at theupper end of the lower section when 1931. Serial No. 539,653.

the threads accurately intert when the pipe sections come together, butwith my resilient connectionbetween the operating means and the uppersection the longitudinal movement of the upper section may be delayeduntil the connection is properly made.

The invention lies in the particular construction and arrangement of thedevice whereby the upper section is moved and rotated to screw the twoparts of the tubing together. l

In the drawings herewith Fig. 1 is a central vertical section throughthetubing screwing device involving my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the plane 65 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar transverse section on the plane 3 3 vof Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side view partly in elevation and partly in sectionillustrating my device in assembled position on the well casing.

With reference particularly to Fig. 4 the well casing is shown at 1. Itis connected at its upper end at 2 to a gate valve 3. The upper end ofsaid valve is connected with the casing head 4. Said casing head has aplurality of lateral openings therein to receive the pipes 5 by means ofwhich fluid from the well may How. J

My invention is connectedwith the upper end of the casing head. vSaidcasing head has an inner threaded area 6 into which is screwed thehousing 7, to which my improvement is connected. Said housing is acylindrical member, the upper end of which is reduced in diameter at 8and is connected at 9 to a threaded collar 10 provided with an inwardlyextending flange 11 at the upper end, which lits closely about the lowerend of the fitting 12. 90

Within the housing- 7 adjacent the lower end thereof is an enlargedchamber'13 cylindrical in general outline and adapted to receive a cupshaped bushing 14. The lower end of said bushing rests upon a threadedring 15 screwed within the lower end of the chamber 13. The bushing 14is connected at its lower end with a nut 16, which is threaded with acoarse thread to engage with the threaded portion 17 of the tubingsection 15. 0

The connection between the bushing 14 and the nutis a non-rotatable one,there being keys 18 on opposite sides of the nut engaging within keyways in the bushing. The nut has radial flangesv 19 and 20 at its upperand lower ends, respectively, the lower flange 20 being removable.

The nut is spaced resiliently relative to the bushing by means of spring21 above the lower end of the bushing and spring 22 below the same. Itwill thus be seen that the nut has a resilient longitudinal playrelative to the bushing due to the springs 21 and 22.

The well tubing shown at 23 in Fig. 4 eX- tends upwardly and issupported at the upper end of the casing 1. This support is by means ofa slip 24 having an engagement between an upper fiange 25 thereon andthe upper end of the casing. The tubing 23 has a head 26 on the upperend tapered to lfit within the slips and be supported thereby,

holding the slips in engagement with the upper end of the casing. Thislower section of the tubing is provided with a threaded socket 27therein for connection with the upper section of tubing 15 previouslyreferred to. The lower end of the upper section is threaded at 28 to fitthe socket 27.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the upper section 25' of thetubing is threaded with a coarse thread at 17 as previously noted andhas a pair of longitudinal key ways 29 therein to receive keys 30 upon agear 31 fitted about the upper section.

'The gear 31 is a small pinion shaped to fit within an upper chamber 33in the housing, the lower end having a shoulder 34 engaging upon theupper end of the bushing 14 by means of which it is supported. Thispinion is slidable upon the tubing but its rotation will cause relativerotation of the tubing through the connection of the keys 30 upon thepinion.

Said pinion is rotated by means of a small gear 35 mounted upon theendof the shaft 36 extending radially outward through the housing andhaving a handle 37 thereon. Said shaft 36 is supported'within a sleeveor bushing 38 screwed within an opening in the housing and having astuiiing box 39 thereon to form a fluid seal about the shaft. Saidstuiing box is locked in position by the lock nut or washer 40. 1 'Itwill now be seen that when the shaft 36 is rotated it will cause therotation of the pinion 31 and the tubing 15. This rotation will screwthe tubing up, or down depending upon the direction of rotation, throughthe resilient nut 16. When, therefore, the tubing is moved downwardly toscrew the lower end 28 into the threaded socket 27 the threads 28 maynot accurately engage in the position in which they first contact withthe socket 27. If they were screwed rigidly downwardly the threads wouldnot mesh with the threads in the socket and mutilation of the threadswithout engagement of the two parts of the tubing would result. However,the upper section will not be forced rigidly into the socket for thereason that the driving connection between the nut 16 and the tubing isa resilient one allowing the tubing 15 to rotate around on the upper endof the socket 27 until the meshing of the threads occurs and will thenscrew the two sections of the tubing together Cand the pitch of thethreads on the end 28 do not need to be exactly of the same pitch or inexact registration with the threaded area 17 through which the sectionis moved and threaded.

The upper end 8 of the housing lits about the upper section 15 of thetubing which 1s slidable therein through a packing 45 which is held inplace in the upper end of the housing by means of the contact therewitho f the lower end of the fitting 12. It will be seen that a threadedring 46 on the fitting allows a swivel connection between the sleeve orCap 10 and the head fitting. The upper end of the section 15 extendsslidably into the lower end of the fitting 12 and there is hence aslidable connection of the upper section 15 with the fitting. The upperend of the tubing is beveled at 47 to fit within a seat 48 at the upperend of thefitting 12. There are the usual lateral outlets 49 and theupper outlets 50- on the fitting.

My invention allows the parting of the tubing when desired by therotation and unscrewing of the upper section relative to the lowersection so that the gate valve 3 may be closed. This closing of the gatevalve will allow repairs to be made upon the flow lines 5 in the casinghead or on the flow lines 49 or 50 in the Christmas tree. By the use ofmy invention the connection between the two sections of-tubing may bethreaded at 1 and danger of leakage at that point is obviated.

What I claim as new is:

1. A well casing, a gate valve thereon, a casing head on said valve,means closing the upper end of said casing head, a tubing eX- tendingthrough said closing means including a lower section in said casing, anupperv section telescopically engaging in said lclosing means, athreaded connection between said sections, mechanical means, engagingsaid upper section to rotate the same and move it longitudinally toscrew it into or from connection with said lower section.

2. A well casing, a gate valve thereon, a casing head on said valve,means closing the upper end of said casing head, a tubing extendingbthrough said closing means including a lower section in said casing, anupper section telescopically engaging in said closing means, a threadedconnection between said sections, mechanical means resiliently mounted1n said closing means and engaglng said upper section to rotate the sameand move it longitudinally to screw it into or from connection with saidlower section.

3. A well casing, a casing head, a housing on said casing head closingthe upper end thereon, a well tubing in said casing projecting slidablythrough the upper end of saidhousing, a threaded joint in said tubing, asection below said joint and a section above said joint and mechanicalmeans in said housing engaging the upper section to simultaneously Vmovethe same vertically and rotate the same to screw up or unscrew'saidjoint.

4. A well casing, a casing head, a housing onsaid casing head closingthe upper end thereof, a well tubing in said casing projecting slidablythrough the upper end of said housing, a threaded joint in said tubing,a section below said joint and a section above said joint and mechanicalmeans in said hous-I ing engaging the upper section to simultaneouslymove the same vertically and rotate the saine to screw up or unscrewsaid joint, said mechanical means being resiliently connected with saidupper section.

5. A well casing, a casing head, a housing on said casing head closingthe upper end thereof, a well tubing in said casing projecting slidablythrough the upper end of said housing, a threaded joint in said tubing,a section below said joint and a section above said joint and mechanicalmeans in said housing engaging the upper section to simultaneously movethe same vertically and rotate the same to screw up or unscrew saidjoint, and automatically adjustable means connected with said mechanicalmeans to permit the threads of said joint to mesh and screw together. v

6. A casing for wells, a casi-ng head there-- on, a housing connected tosaid casing head, a well tubing in said casing including a lower sectionsuspended in said casing and having a threaded socket at its upperend,an upper tubing section slidable in said housing and having a iuidtight littherein, the lower end thereof being threaded to fit saidsocket, and means to screw and unscrew said upper section into and fromsaid socket.

7. A casing for wells, a casing head therea threaded socket at its upperend, an upper tubing section slidable in said housing and having a fluidtight lit therein, the lower end thereof being threaded to fit saidsocket, a nut having threaded engagement with said upper section, meansto rotate said pipe in said nut, "and means to resiliently support saidnut in said housing.l

9. A well casing, means closing the .upper end thereof, a tubing in saidcasing including upper and lower sections, said upper section beingslidable in said closing means, a threaded connection in said tubingbetween said sections and means in said closing meansto screw up andunscrew said connection and to separate one section of said tubing fromthe other. l

10. A well casing, means closing the upper end thereof, a tubing sectionslidable in said closing means, a stuiiing box in said closing meansabout said tubing section, a fitting for conducting Huid from saidtubing and into which said tubing section may telescope, the lower endof said fitting forming a gland for said stulng box and means to forcesaid litting downwardly into said stuiing box.

11. A well casing, a casing head thereon, a housing upon the upper endof said casing head, a tubing extending through said housing, a sealabout said tubing at the upper end of said housing including a stuliingbox, a fitting formedto receive and conduct Huid from said tubing-andinto which said tubing projects, -said fitting projecting into saidstuffing box, andmeans to force said fitting on, a housing connected tosaid casing head,

a well tubing in said casing including a lower section suspended in saidcasing and having a threaded socket at its upper end, an upper tubingsection slidable in said housing,

the lower end thereof being threaded to fit said socket, and means toscrew and unscrew said upper section into and from said socket, saidmeans acting to move said upper section away from said lower sectionwhereby said casing may be closed between said sections and means toclose said casing.

8. A casing for wells, a casing head thereon, a housing connected tosaid casing head, a well tubing in said casing including la lowersection suspended in said casing and having'

